Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick Review, Photos, Swatches
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss LipstickKat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick ($21.00 for 0.10 oz.) is described as a “matte black cherry.” It’s a deepened, burgundy-red with cool undertones and a mostly matte finish. NARS Liv (P, $32.00) is cooler-toned, glossier. Bite Beauty Bordeaux (P, $28.00) is brighter, cooler-toned, glossier. MAC Talk That Talk (LE, $16.00) is similar. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Black Metal Dahlia (P, $18.00) is more shimmery, brighter. MAC Soulfully Rich (P, $18.00) is darker, cooler-toned. MAC Heart Hangover (LE, $18.00) is more muted, less red. MAC Prince Noir (LE, $16.00) is darker. MAC Dominate (LE, $16.00) is more shimmery. Chanel L’Impatiente (P, $34.00) is lighter. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Studded Kiss might be one of the more disappointing products of the year, though we’ll see what the rest of the year brings, but it’s certainly in the running. Motorhead is another let-down in all facets with its dry, stiff consistency that made the color apply unevenly as it dragged and tugged at the lips. It lacked color payoff, which was a real surprise. While it clings on for dear life for eight hours, it is fairly drying. It is difficult to apply, uncomfortable to wear, and doesn’t live up to the formula’s claims. I have few more shades left to review, so here’s hoping at least a couple help me forget this one, because my lips quiver in absolute fear at the idea of wearing this ever again.
Motorhead
DCDiscontinued. $21.00.
See more photos!
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
Kat Von D Motorhead Studded Kiss Lipstick
I really wish they work out better formulas for these, I have Lecole des Femmes and I was SO dissapointed in everything, they have some pretty colors but the formula is a huge let down, my lips arent amazing to begin with, and these make them look horrible! I honestly wanted to like these.
I feel like the condition of my lips is pretty good most of the time, so I can only imagine this type of texture on drier lips 🙁
Oh dear, that F.
I feel like the lip swatch pretty much sums it up!
It really does 🙁
Yikes! I’ve heard that this particular shade was very disappointing…thats too bad! Nice to see you still mustered a smile 🙂
It was rough!
Darn it. That color is pretty.
Kat Von D, I really hope your PR people spend at least an hour or so every day googling your brand looking for reviews.
I hear ya – pretty in theory!
I feel like I’ve read about this on your FAQ or something, but since you purchased these yourself, do you expect Kat Von D to reach out to you?
I’m not sure what you mean by expecting Kat Von D to reach out to me? (What for?) I’ve worked with Kat Von D’s (the brand, not the actual person) PR in the past and presently, so I’m sure I’ll hear about upcoming products/launches!
Wow really? This one’s my absolute fave! It’s a little stiff, but I apply it with a lip brush and it looks and feels perfect. I guess this range is really more for people who don’t mind a little discomfort during application (very metal), because I really do love it.
I’m glad you like yours, Solangel!
This is a gorgeous shade, but what a disappointment about the formula! I’ve loved your reviews of the other shades in this line, so I hope you don’t stop reviewing them!!
I will review the rest I bought, but I doubt I’ll be buying more unless some really unusual color gets added to the range! And even then I really will try to resist, LOL!
It’s broken my heart to see you not liking these. (Although, “liking” is completely the wrong word, because your standard of reviewing is the most fair one I have come across. Personal preference never even enters it.) If KVD had just made fewer claims with these, I think they would have been better received overall. I own Gothica and Wonderchilde so far, and I do enjoy them, but I have to toss the “10-hour wear, one-swipe payoff” claims. By the looks of the mattes, I may have to throw away the comfort claim as well. 🙁 It’s a pity, because L’Ecoles de Femmes is a gorgeous color, and Coven looks so interesting! I may just check out Poe and Wolvesmouth and stick with the metallics though.
I never tried the original lipstick formula. Have they taken a step backward with these?
^L’Ecole des Femmes
I can spell, just not in French. 😉
For a really knock out, unique shade I might be willing to deal with a stiffer formula personally… though in general, there are too many easier, more comfortable lipsticks for me that I would probably seek out something similar from an indie (if I wanted an unusual color like Coven, for example). I’m honestly not familiar with the original formula – I think the only one I had from before was Adora, which was good then and now! Honestly, if I want long-wearing, matte lip color in funky colors, OCC has a whole slew of them!
The metallic shades are definitely a LOT easier to apply on the whole. Some have better color payoff than others, but the sheerer ones are at least somewhat buildable.
I think OCC’s ingredients list looks a lot more comfortable to wear as well. Or those Bite Beauty matte liquid lipstick high pigment things that I’m too lazy to look up the official name of…
I did just buy some samples of funky colors from My Beauty Addiction on Etsy. I do think indie is the way to go for those. I think the next I’d like to try would be Sweetpea & Fay or The Lip Bar. (The Lip Bar just kills me with the whole alcoholic theme to their website. Too cute!)
Yeah, if you’re happy to shop indie (some prefer the security of bigger brands/retailers or shopping in store, better return policies, fast turnaround times, etc. I love indies, but I can see why some go elsewhere–I have burned A LOT even when I do my research!), there’s little that you can’t find!
I was so heartbroken when I heard that the original painted love formula was being replaced with this! Painted Love was one of my favorite lipstick formulas hands down… It was very pigmented, but smooth and comfortable on the lips. The formula was somewhere between matte and satin, and the vintage inspired shades were super pretty and flattering… When Sephora put them on clearance I personally stocked up on two backups on GoGo, my favorite orange lipstick, because I can’t live without it… I am blown away by the bad results with this new formula, what a massive step backwards and let down… so many interesting colors, but such a fail!
That’s such a shame. And the Sephora SAs at my local store seem to love the Studded Kiss range, but I think it is really just for the interesting colors. I feel the same as Christine said before. If it is a really unique shade (Gothica, for example, because I do love that sparkle), I’m willing to forgive a few of the issues with the formula. But if I can find something similar without the issues elsewhere? Yeah. I’ll do it. The cool packaging and lovely fragrance (holy cow, I love the scent and I typically hate scented makeup, period), are not enough for me to deal with an F-rated lipstick.
Do you use A-Go-Go in the liquid lipstick?
OMG!! And what a shame because the color is beautiful. But dang, that’s bad. I bought Adora and Thin Lizzy and they are awesome, I think I got the only 2 good ones in the bunch. Makes you wonder about Quality Control though doesn’t it? Isn’t anyone trying these out before they release them for sale?
Adora was nice! Poe has been my favorite.
This is high on my list of most disappointing launches.
Same for me 🙁
I love the thought of this colour .. I wanted NARS Liv, but thought it had too much slip.. I would go the NARS over this any day.
LOL! That was my thought… okay, too little… too much… Goldlilocks I must be!
That is horrifying. It really bothers me when companies put out such products. I mean, why make all those claims when they’re patently untrue, because we’d rather spend our $$ for something that doesn’t make you look like you’re in pain. (Rant over! :p).
Yeah, I have NO idea where some of those claims came from. This is not a formula that really does “one stroke” color well, because it doesn’t even come close to having enough slip/creaminess for most shades.
Bummer! I was actually excited for this color. 🙁
🙁
These make me really happy I didn’t spend my money on these but really sad because for such a variety of shades these are just so terrible.
It’s such a bummer – great selection of colors, different packaging (which you may like or not, but it isn’t packaging we’ve seen a billion times before, at least!), comfortable price point (for mid-to-high-end)… sigh.
Seeing your review and swatches of Poe got me so excited for this line– the subsequent shades have been such a huge disappointment.
Oh well, guess you saved me a chunk of cash, Kat Von D.
You & me both, haha! I was like OoO, Poe!!!! and ordered ten more. Big mistake.
What a major bummer. Why can’t they all be like Adora?
If only!
Yeah, I saw someone swatch this on Youtube and it looked pretty rough. So I didn’t order any dark colors from the line. Too bad, because I feel like the dark colors are where this line should have excelled.
It is a surprise that the dark colors aren’t doing well!
There was a similar shade in the “original” lineup, Homegirl, that was just beautiful… Why do branda “fix” things that aren’t broken?
I bought Homegirl as well, and it is slightly better, but I don’t think I’d go as far as saying much better.
Interesting… The one I have is from a trio I bought years ago, and it is one of the creamiest lipsticks I’ve ever tried. I guess there have been inconsistencies within this brand all along, LOL!
The Homegirl I have is from the new range, I mean 🙂
I’ve been holding my comments on the new KVD line of lipsticks because i was hoping that at least one of the deep, rich colours would score an A. So much hype and quite the disappointment. Thanks so much for reviewing, Christine.
No prob, Helen!
This is so frustrating. I was really looking forward to checking out some shades in this line, and after reading the reviews, I’m just going to pass. I can’t justify wasting money on any product line that gets a generally crappy rating right across the board. 🙁
From my experience, the only ones worth even a look are the metallic/shimmery shades, but some are better than others.
Eek, no that doesn’t look good 🙁 I didn’t expect to see many bad ratings from these lipsticks…
Me neither! I expected some of the mattes to be a little drying over time, but I didn’t think color payoff and application were going to be as difficult as they were with this shade.
I’m surprised that you were even able to muster up a smile in that last photo…Lol #Terrible
Misplaced hope, I guess!
Yikes! All the dupes are much better!
They are!
oh man, your reviews of the studded kiss lipsticks have REALLY helped save me money. when they initially launched, I had something like 30 of them in my sephora cart. with every review you run, I’m culling my cart down more and more. every time I go to a sephora it seems like they’re perpetually sold out so I haven’t been able to try many shades for myself, so I appreciate your reviews so much. thanks for doing them!
No problem, Roxana! The reviews are really mixed – there are several instances where a reader has had the completely opposite experience with their product, so there may also be quality control/batch inconsistencies going on. The shimmery/metallic shades seem to be better in general with the mattes being a mixed bag. If there’s a color you really, really like, you might try wearing lip balm first and applying with a lip brush (which will help avoid the tugging and dragging).
I agree that there seem to be consistency issues going on, which is even more frustrating! I have had a little success: I bought a couple of colors that applied really well when I tried them in the store – wolvesmouth and hellbent – and those were really pretty. I also was able to sample coven and poe (the former applying SO much worse than the latter), but the testers at my local sephora have a tendency to disappear, so I haven’t been able to try much more. hopefully I can eventually check out the last 10 or so colors I’m curious about, especially homegirl, vampira, and prayer.
I agree – if it’s truly a lack of quality control/consistency, it’s more frustrating since experiences are ALL OVER the place and you never know which one you’ll get 🙁
Wow. And the funny thing is that it reminds me of a slightly redder version of MAC’s Studded Kiss.
Definitely some similarity!
Looks like a bad version of Wet n Wild’s Cherry Bomb, which is pretty amazing, especially for that price point.
It’s unfortunate that this line seemed promising and then everything went downhill.
Thanks for the heads up!
this is such a let down. it’ not even the same color as in the tube. i was hoping it would be much darker and not so patchy
A lot of these super dark shades look lighter on!
I really liked this lipstick. My daughter liked it so much she took mine. Perhaps the formula is just one that some people like and others don’t. It is stiff…which I don’t mind…because I feel like I get great coverage. I also really loved Wildchilde. More than this one. And I get tons of compliments on it.
Some people like one thing…and others like others…
If it was dry but still gave “one stroke” color payoff and lasted for 10 hours, it would have rated better, but it missed the mark on every claim. It wasn’t just a matter of a stiff texture – it didn’t even give me great coverage. I’m glad yours performed better!
I guess I’m lucky that I don’t have dry lips regardless of what I do. I just snagged this from my daughter’s bathroom (to reapply…don’t tell her) and my application even looks different. I don’t do one stroke…but little strokes…and mine looks more even. It didn’t wear 10 hours…and the problem I had was that it as it wore away it left a lip liner looking ring. But it did apply differently on me. I guess I’m just lucky…
It just sounds like yours is better? I don’t have dry lips either!
Wow… this, this really looks painful. And I was waiting for your review because I really loved the color 🙁 guess I’ll buy Black Metal Dahlia instead, or which of the dupes do you recommend?
Bite Bordeaux is the most comfortable to wear but least matte (it is also brighter). I think NARS’ Liv has a similar impact (dark and vampy), but it is also less matte. Chanel L’Impatiente is the closest overall.
Black Metal Dahlia is a pretty shade, but it is shimmery, so there is that!
This whole thing about these lipsticks being a flop breaks my heart, SIGH.
Mine too!
I love vampy colors like this..but I think I would rather have Liv.
I wish it worked better!
The color looked promising 🙁 if only they were more consistent with the formula 🙁
I agree!
Wow, normally colours in this family have too *much* slip, sounds like any would have been a blessing here. What a shame, the bullet shot of this had me drooling!
Yes, a wee bit would have been MUCH appreciated!
Such a gorgeous color, too. Why they thought turning signature colors into duds was acceptable is beyond me.
Just makes you wonder what happened!
This was one of the shades I wanted, until I saw Phyrra swatch it and it was not nearly as dark as I’d hoped. I thought well maybe the review would be better, and I could just pair it with OCC Tarred pencil. Nope. Not gonna open my wallet for this garbage.
I’ve seen a couple people compare this to Milani Black Cherry, and I just bought VooDoo from My Beauty Addiction which I think will be similar but I haven’t worn it yet.
ps) what do you do with products you hate Christine? Do you throw them away or return them?
It just depends on the product – if it’s something that I might return to, I will keep it. With something like this, since they are permanent and the brand is more popular than not, I’ll probably keep them for a period of time (for dupes, comparisons, etc.).
Oh man, your poor lips! And it’s such a pretty colour too; it looks really nice on you overall. Do you think it’s one of those lipsticks that can be salvaged with another product (I’m thinking Mac prep and prime since it makes it possible for me to wear Ruby Woo) or is it too uneven and dry for that to be worth it?
Lip balm helps, and if you apply with a lip brush, you’ll do less harm to your lips from the drier/tugging formula. It’s really drying on me, though, so I don’t know that lip balm will do enough. For $21, it just shouldn’t need salvaging!
That’s true! I guess I still have the “matte lipsticks 4eva!!!” attitude I acquired when nice matte formulas were harder to find, and the first thing I think about when I see a poorly performing matte lipstick is whether it can be salvaged. But I agree, it’s too much work at that price point, especially when Bite and Nars have similar lipsticks. Now I’m kicking myself a bit for not having picked up some lipsticks in Kat Von D’s earlier formula; from everything I’ve heard, those were quite nice.
Totally get you! 🙂 You shouldn’t have to work that much at $21, but if someone doesn’t mind, more power to them for having the patience! At least people will know to expect to do extra work with this formula, so then it’s up to them if they want to put in that work.
So disappointing. That F just stares you right in the face… but the colour is beautiful.
My husband was like, “That’s kind of a cool color,” and then he saw the lip swatch photo, and then he saw the grade. LOL!
Poor you! Your lips actually look painful.
LOL!
I stared at the picture of the swatch with widely opened eyes for quite a while, not believing the texture nor the color. It looked promising in bullet form and I was actually gonna add it to my wish list! Thanks for the review, Christine! Now I know I can move on and perhaps wait for more fall offerings by other brands…
Happy to help, Paige!
Waaahhhhhh… This just makes me angry… they are replacing a GREAT lipstick formula with a horrible formula, WHY???? There is ZERO excuse for putting out such a poor performing product, and those claims! I can’t help but wonder what happened that caused this? I have been pretty happy with Kat Von D’s products overall, nothing I have tried has been this bad… how could they let this into the market like this?
No idea 🙁
I bought this shade along with Poe and I’m going to make it work if it kills me.
LOL! Try lip balm + lip brush.
I’m also going to fill them in with a liner. I am glad that Poe is better and that I didn’t get more like I wanted to. What a waste of a potentially great collection.
Is it bad that I get so excited when you do a review of one of these because I NEED to know how awful it is? Also, I feel like you’ve had more Fs within this collection alone than you have had in every other year combined!
It’s entirely possible!
Oh no, your poor lips! 🙁
Luckily, recovered and ready to try again, lol!
I feel so lucky that I got Bite Bordeaux and glad to see you gave an A for it. Also “phew” I just dodged so many bullets from KVD. I had 6-7 in my Sephora “love list” the moment they were available. Now I have removed all of them…. Feel sorry for your poor lips. :/
Yay for Bordeaux!! 🙂
WOW – an F???? Why do companies release products that are so poor in quality that, inevitably, it harms the brand’s reputation and perception?
Just based on reader feedback across the range and on shades I’ve reviewed… it may also be a major issue in consistency – because some have great experiences to my devastating ones and vice versa. I think I bought nearly 20 shades, and most have been below average, so I don’t know – there are persistent problems in the formula from what I can tell.
This one was so bad I returned it (along with Lovecraft and Bauhaus.) It was so pretty in theory, but I could not make it work for me 🙁
Glad you could return them, Phyrra!
Your poor lips must be curling in fright at the thought of reviewing more of these lipsticks as they’ve been so Meh! up to now but a huge thanks for putting your lips on the line for all of us. What would we do without you eh?! These lipsticks seem to be more miss than hit!
My lips are more optimistic than my brain, LOL!
this whole range has been such a disappointment, and this was the shade i was looking forward to the most! i almost wish this line had never even come out, because while the packaging and shade range is beautiful, if the product itself doesn’t deliver, then what’s the point? i especially feel bad for people who don’t religiously read beauty reviews like some of us, who will end up just browsing in sephora and see this lipstick that looks awesome and end up taking it home and finding that it sucks. yeah, you can always return it, but the point is that at this price point and buying from a place like sephora, the lack of quality and consistency in this line is inexcusable, in my opinion. i have $2 wet n wild lipsticks that likely perform way better than these that cost 10 times as much.
sorry for the rant, i obviously have a lot of feelings about this, ha!
It seems like there are consistency issues and general formula issues as well, and the consistency exacerbates the formula issues – because I think no matter what, it is a drier, less comfortable formula that probably doesn’t wear 10 hours or have one-stroke color payoff across all shades, but the amount that are falling REALLY short is quite high.
Weird. Even the bullet LOOKS hard.
Though I will say, I kinda like the color and how it looks. But if it feels like hell, that’s not really worth it, especially for something in that price range!
The color is cool, just wish it applied half-decently!
Dang, I was hoping this shade wouldn’t be a bad formula. It’s a gorgeous color! I’ll have to keep looking for a nice similar lipstick in a formula I like.
Good luck!
Lol at the face you made on this picture! Tells a thousand words. Hated it!
It was a disappointment!
F.. damnn it!! I see these falling in teh disappointing products of year already!!
Seriously KVD should re think about these and plan to relaunch with better formula.
BTW do you think it is any close to MAC Diva lipstick?
Diva is a lot warmer!
Definitely looks like an F from the swatch itself! I really feel for your poor lips every time I see a review from this line!
Haha! A swatch is worth 1,000 words!
Ooohh… I was so interested in many colours of the range when it came out.Will not take the risk – I wear dark colours in the winter, and heating and cold makes my lips cracked impossibly at that season. So I can only wear top quality lipsticks at that time of the year.
Definitely stay away from this line – I don’t think it will be forgiving at all!
Homegirl pretty much did this to me!
I have Homegirl as well, and it wasn’t much better.
I got excited when I saw that first photo as it looks like such an awesome colour.
Then I read and then came the photo of the swatch. A lipstick that performs that badly on an arm/hand swatch is rarely seen, In my very humble oppinion.
It is such a pity that this line performs so unevenly, but we still have Poe 🙂
You definitely weren’t alone 🙁
…how do they test this, and then let this get to market? No, really. I am confused. It’s not like decent lipstick formulae are even that hard to make – they’ve even got some in this very line!! It would have been kind of disappointing if there were lots of, say, B- s to Cs, but Fs are just kind of embarrassing…
Even if they wanted to get that matte finish… they can’t do it at such a huge expense!
I really wished that these were better. I was really looking forward to Coven, the matte lavender. At this price point, I might as well purchase a matte MAC lipstick, where the quality is there and the same amount of product for $5 less.
MAC Mattes aren’t always great, but they’re way better on average, lol!
I agree! Most recently, I have been enjoying many of the limited edition MAC Mattes though. Do you think it is a batch quality issue? I feel like a high end brand should not have such a huge “bad batch” issue. I could understand bad batches at the drugstore but for a $21 product and being from a respectable brand?
It might be. Without having say… three or four of the same shade and seeing if there were differences in quality, I can’t say. The experiences from readers and myself seem to suggest things are either GREAT! or horrible, which suggests consistency issues. No brand should have such dramatic consistency issues, high end or not, but at $21, it’s hard to rationalize it as a customer.
It’s such a shame since this color really is gorgeous. I’ve noticed that many companies struggle with shades like Studded Kiss – for some reason this shade is tricky and most of the times it’s uneven in application. For example, I love YSL The Mats line and shade 204 Rose Crazy is one of my favorites, like, ever, lol, but shades 205 and 206 (which are darker – burgundy and plum) are so bad when it comes to application – patchy, uneven and so on. I was so disappointed because I really wanted to wear them. To bad. :/
Thanks for the heads up about 205 and 206!
Just notice I sad the wrong shade is my favorite, LOL! I meant 202, not 204, sorry! 🙂
*whispers* Motohead is my favorite and it does not perform like this on me.
What happened to your shipment?????
Glad yours works better! I didn’t do anything to mine or my shipment – ordered, paid, received like any other customer 🙂
Oh I wasn’t implying you had! Just perhaps there’s a huge issue with quality control in these lipsticks and I thus far have gotten lucky.
I actually made two separate orders, but they’ve all been consistently bad for me with a few exceptions (the norm definitely seems to be poorer rather than great). I hear more about one-off good experiences but more bad ones, so there does seem to be a consistency issue – but why it’s so random, I’m not sure. I’d have expected the brand to produce quite a bit initially, so we would be buying from the same run (at least, initially).
Wow. The color is perfect but the formula looks like a struggle. The swatches even look bad. Ouch!
It was a real struggle!
I have not seen one good review of Motorhead. It’s another one of those shades you’d think the line would have nailed. I didn’t think a matte, dark red would be so difficult. That application looks hideous. Your poor lips!
It is interesting that there is at least some consistency with this shade – it makes me wonder who tested it?
Man, I was really interested in this color and/or homegirl but looking at the lip search I think I’m going to pass. I have a $2 blackened red wet n wild matte lipstick in cherry bomb that looks much better on the lips than this…
It wouldn’t surprise me!
I’m kinda digging it in an artsy editorial meant-to-look-ratched way, but not in an I would actually wear that way… too bad 🙁
LOL!
Out of so many shades, Motorhead was the one I had the highest hope for because I am such a fan of the band and it would have been cool to have a lipstick that’s their namesake. I would have gunned for NARS’ Liv but it looked too creamy to me… the finish for most of NARS new lipsticks look a bit too dated.
You might be able to *make* it work if it’s something you’re willing to do (but I’ll just repeat that at $21, you shouldn’t have to!) with lip balm + lip brush.
I saw Motorhead live a few weeks ago, and a lipstick bearing their name, of this poor quality, makes me all levels of sad!
🙁